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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29814144">conciliate</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enderwoah/pseuds/Enderwoah'>Enderwoah</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft - Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>...to an extent., Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Dead Wilbur and Ghostbur are Different Characters, Gen, Ghost Wilbur Soot, Ghostbur, Good Jschlatt (Video Blogging RPF), Hurt No Comfort, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Regret, Sorry!, Tags Are Hard, Toby Smith | Tubbo is Not Okay, TommyInnit Hears Voices (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot and Technoblade and TommyInnit are Siblings, but ao3 tags limit my power, but i promise these aren't like, i know the word count/chapter ratio is not good for those of you that like long chapters, i wrote the first three and half of the fourth chapter before tommy got revived so, pls i know how to write well :sob:, unsatisfyingly short chapters it has a story they're just broken up</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 19:07:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,523</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29814144</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enderwoah/pseuds/Enderwoah</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>conciliate (verb): stop (someone) from being angry or discontented; placate; pacify.</p><p>TommyInnit is gone. TommyInnit died to Dream in a smelly, tiny, claustrophobic cell by being bludgeoned to death.</p><p>Phantommy comes back with a little less pep in his step, and he seems to think that it's an improvement. The rest of the server doesn't really agree, whether they want to admit it or not.</p><p>(A collection of Phantommy chronological drabbles with a storyline. This is no different from a normal story aside from the chapters being shorter. Please read the tags.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cara | CaptainPuffy &amp; TommyInnit, Jack Manifold &amp; TommyInnit, Jschlatt &amp; TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Niki | Nihachu &amp; TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Sam | Awesamdude &amp; TommyInnit, Technoblade &amp; TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), TommyInnit &amp; Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), TommyInnit &amp; Ranboo, TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF) &amp; Everyone, Tommyinnit &amp; Toby Smith | Tubbo, Wilbur Soot &amp; TommyInnit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>400</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. tommyinnit</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>TommyInnit woke up enveloped in white.</p><p>It blinded him, at first -- a start change to the dimness of the prison cell and the empty back blanket of unconsciousness, and it made the boy close his eyes again and turn to his side. He didn't want to wake up yet. He felt like he could sleep for centuries, eons, even.</p><p>And then he remembered getting bludgeoned to death.</p><p>Tommy shot upwards, startled, his eyes darting around the white void he'd been dropped into. It took him a moment for everything to really hit him, but when it did, when every single memory came crashing down upon him like a wave and his mind was filled with images and colors and sounds belonging to everything that's ever happened to him from birth to final death, he pulled his knees up to his chest and cried. For what or who, he didn't know, but the tears kept coming for what felt like hours, and Tommy himself did nothing to stop them, for crying for nobody was a liberating experience.</p><p>Who was he to cry for? His friends, who abandoned him in his final days, who always abandoned him for one reason or another? His family -- a dead man, two people who, as far as Tommy knew, couldn't care less about what happened to him, and a fake brother who someone always found things that were more important than Tommy was when Tommy could think of nothing truly worth more than him? Perhaps those he looked up to, who told him that they cared, who betrayed him in the end, trapped with his own demise and were off fighting evils that never affected Tommy?</p><p>Was he to cry for himself, as he did in exile? To wallow in the moment, of what had happened to him each day or how people treat him.</p><p>No, Tommy mourned over himself, but not like he'd ever done before. He cried over the sorry tale of a young boy forced to hold the weight of the world at his sides, held to standards gods themselves couldn't upkeep, and ultimately killed decades before he was truly ready. He did not want to go. He cried over his pathetic story as a whole.</p><p>He wept for his world caving in.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>written on 3/1/21.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. bubbles</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ghostbur introduces Tommy to the afterlife.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It took an hour for Ghostbur to show up.</p><p>Tommy's crying remained relentless until he heard another's voice, someone calling out his name. His head lifted from his knees, his neck audibly cracking from being kept in the same position for several hours.</p><p>In the distance, he could spot a dark, grey figure, who seemed to be waving its arms above its head and calling out Tommy's name. Tommy squinted as it came closer into view, a yellow, torso-shaped part of it starting to emerge. "TOMMY! TOMMY!!" It called, and the boy found himself scooting backward slightly before it stopped. It muttered something under its breath, but somehow, Tommy could hear it as if it was being whispered into his ear -- "Ah, shoot, wait a second..."</p><p>It held its arms to its chest and Tommy blinked. When he opened his eyes, the dead ones of his older brother stared back at him, his star-speckled face twisted upwards in a grin. He yelped and scrambled backward as the ghost squealed and lunged forwards to give Tommy a light hug. "Tommy!! It really is you, what in God's name are you doing here, I've missed you so much! Ooh, I've got so much stuff I need to show you, I'm so happy to see you!"</p><p>The rest of whatever he said (which was a lot, given that he doesn't need to breathe between sentences) dissolved into a garbled speech that Tommy couldn't understand. The ghost's pale face melted and became more flushed, most of his stars morphing into scars as his dull grey eyes glitched into a sharp, toxic green. His grin quickly turned sinister, and the white void came folding in to reveal its dark purple and black backside. The pressure on his shoulders was his body being pressed into the ground, Dream leaning on his body as he delivered a punch to his face that made his vision go blurry.</p><p>His breath came out in a half-scream as he jerked backward, holding onto his body as if it was the only thing keeping him where he was. His heart (which is there for aesthetic at this point, as it serves no function) hammered in his chest as he squeaked out a single phrase to represent what he was feeling: "Please don't touch me."</p><p>The empty shell of his brother recoiled away, frowning and exclaiming, "I'm sorry, I didn't know! I'll make sure to remember!"</p><p>The silence that stretched between them was a mile long before Tommy regained his bearings and shook his head forcefully. "Thanks, Wilbur..."</p><p>The ghost frowned. "I'm not Wilbur. Please don't call me that." Tommy nodded. That wasn't his brother.</p><p>Ghostbur smiled thoughtfully and said, "You look stressed, Tommy," and Tommy didn't know whether that was accurate. He felt like his chest was caving in on itself, but he also felt more liberated than he ever had in his life before...which makes sense, given that his life is over. He felt as if the universe was going to come crashing down, that the sun was being sent hurdling directly towards him, but he felt comfort in the definitiveness of death. "Here, have some blue! For real, this time!"</p><p>Ghostbur waved his hand, and a yellow bubble appeared right next to him. Inside of it was crystals shaped <em>like</em> blue, but they weren't blue. They were white. Not see-through. Just white. "I can actually give people blue now! Because before, I didn't know how to make bubbles, so I had to make the blue and then hold it so I could give it to people, and of course, the blue would fill up while I was holding it, so it didn't really have the full effect, but now I can really do it! Here, hold out your hand!"</p><p>Tommy did as he was told and held his hand in front of him, the other one clutching onto his other arm. The yellow bubble popped above his hand, dropping four pieces of blue into his waiting palm. Tommy watched in awe as two of the crystals immediately filled up with color, as if blue dye had been dumped onto them from the bottom up. The third filled up about halfway before the color slowly started to crawl upwards. The fourth remained untouched. It felt like the ever-growing knot in his chest was sizably decreased, but not fully, even though all of his sadness has been sucked away. He looked up at Ghostbur, who looked excited, his hands waving around a bit in front of him. Tommy tilted his head to the side. "How do I make the bubbles?"</p><p>Ghostbur furrowed his brows and glanced away, seemingly embarrassed. "I, um...I dunno, you kind of just..." He waved his hand around flippantly. "Do it?"</p><p>Tommy rolled his eyes. "Helpful," he snapped. "Real helpful, Ghostbur."</p><p>"Oh, shush, I just got here like, a month ago!" Ghostbur replied, crossing his arms with a lighthearted pout on his face. "If you're so interested, go ask, like, John John or something. He's been here since, like, 1850."</p><p>"I don't know who that <em>is,</em> Ghostbur," Tommy snapped, sounding uncomfortable at the notion of talking to a random dead person he'd never heard of before. "Please just...tell me. Seriously."</p><p>Ghostbur seemed to recognize his tone, and his face softened. "Oh...okay, well, I can take you to a friend of mine! You know him, and he's been here for longer than me <em>and</em> he does the bubbling thing a lot! He's basically an expert!" He smiles, and Tommy's concerns were eased slightly. "In the meantime, here, I'll take your blue!"</p><p>Ghostbur held out his hand, and Tommy hesitantly handed over the three tainted pieces of blue, keeping the empty one. Their fingertips brushed as the item was being transferred, and Tommy knew that it was Dream squeezing his fingers until they broke and shattered, and Tommy pulled his hand back sharply and whispered, "Please don't touch me," as he held his hand softly.</p><p>The other ghost raised his hand and bubbled the crystals before waving it again and making the bubble vanish and almost glitch out of existence. Tommy felt lightheaded as it disappeared, stumbling backward and almost losing his balance before catching himself. He saw Ghostbur move to help before stopping so as to not make contact. Thank God.</p><p>He smiled. "Yep, that's gonna happen when you use it the first time! Now, c'mon," he made a 'come along' gesture, and Tommy floated behind him. "We're gonna talk to my friend, because then you can use the bubbles, and then you won't have to touch anyone! It'll be perfect! It'll be <em>perfect."</em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>written on 3/2/21 (edited on 3/4/21).</p><p>I PROMISE THAT THE IDEA OF TOMMY HATING TOUCH WASN'T SOMETHING I STOLE FROM TWITTER I LITERALLY GOT THE IDEA THE NIGHT THAT IT HAPPENED I'M JUST S L O W...</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. old enemy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ghostbur 'introduces' Tommy to his friend.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Oh my God, Ghostbur, you have <em>got</em> to be kidding me."</p><p>Ghostbur winced at the boy's pointed, exasperated tone. "C'mon Tommy, just give him a chance! He might be different than you remember him!"</p><p>He shook his head and floated backward. "No, hell no, absolutely <em>not,</em> do you know what he's done to me? And my -- and my friends, Ghostbur?"</p><p>"Nope!" Ghostbur replies, chipper. "C'mooon, okay, <em>sure,</em> I didn't tell you that it was Schlatt, but he might be different from how you remember him! <em>I'm</em> different from how I was when I was alive, right?"</p><p>"No, no, stop," Tommy cut him off, squeezing the crystal in his hands. "Wilbur told me he was no different when he...um, when he came back for a minute, and he sounded the same when we were doing your resurrection thing, so I don't want to talk to him." He crossed his arms. "I don't want to talk to <em>any</em> version of him, dead or not."</p><p>"B-but, Tommy, then you won't be able to make the bubbles! I can't teach you, and you don't want to talk to anyone...don't be stubborn, Tommy. It's for yourself, anyways, <em>I</em> don't get any benefit out of this."</p><p>The figure in the distance turned slightly and straightened -- they probably got noticed. Tommy huffed through his nose. "Fine. But don't expect me to be super nice to him or <em>whatever,</em> I'm not gonna be all buddy-buddy with that prick."</p><p>"Sure! That's fine. Oh, um, you should probably put the blue away..."</p><p>Tommy frowned, looking at the white crystal with slight confusion. "The...blue? Why?"</p><p>"Oh, you see," Ghostbur fiddles with his sleeves nervously, staring towards the figure in the distance. "Schlatt -- Schlatt and a few other people, actually, Mason and Jack and Flint all think that blue is some kind of -- well, they keep calling it a 'drug,' and it <em>definitely</em> isn't that! But they keep calling it that, even though so many people here like to use it, I mean, James uses it, and hey! The little butler boy almost uses it as much as I do, isn't that crazy?"</p><p>"You're rambling," Tommy pointed out, tilting his head to the side. "Are you nervous or something?"</p><p>"Nervous? Why would I be nervous?" Ghostbur sounded genuine, and Tommy shrugged. "No, I'm just excited! I haven't talked to him in a while, let's --"</p><p>"Well, well, well," came a voice from behind, startling Ghostbur and making him jump with a giggle and making Tommy yelp with slight fear. "If it isn't Tommy<em>Innit."</em> He turned to see Schlatt standing at eye level, significantly shorter than he was when he was alive. He donned a blue sweater, which almost scared Tommy. He'd never seen him wear something so...casual. Normal. It was always a suit and tie. He generally looked more...ram-like than Tommy had ever seen him allow himself to be. His pupils were sideways and his ears were furry and his horns were...there, as per usual, but Tommy also noticed that his fingertips were darker and harder, and his hair was fluffy and completely black. It looked soft...Schlatt recoiled when he saw Tommy's eyes looking at his hair and wagged a finger. "Hands off the hair, kid. Don't even try it."</p><p>"You look a lot fluffier than I last saw you," Tommy sneered. "Let yourself go, haven't you?"</p><p>Schlatt, who usually would have replied with some snarky comment or sarcasm, simply rolled his eyes. "Sure, sure. You don't look so good yourself, you know."</p><p>Tommy furrowed his brows and looked up at Ghostbur, who didn't meet his eyes, and narrowed his at Schlatt. The hybrid shrugged. "Alright then. Whatever." He sniffed and swiped at his nose before chuckling. "You were a real pain when you were alive, you know that, right? What finally did you in? Wait, actually, refresh me on the first two. Not that I knew in the first place, but. Y'know."</p><p>"M-maybe he shouldn't be remembering all that stuff, Schlatt," Ghostbur said nervously, fiddling with his hands before drifting in Schlatt's direction and whispering incredibly loudly, "I think he's a little bit t- to the -raumatized."</p><p>"I'm fine, shut up," Tommy snapped, turning back to Schlatt, who simply raised an eyebrow. Tommy began to count on his fingers. "I got killed by Dream in the 'Final Control Room' with everyone else --"</p><p>"Right, Eret's trap during the revolution, mhm. Sucks."</p><p>"I got...I got shot in the neck by Dream to end the war..."</p><p>Schlatt furrowed his eyebrows. "You lost both of them on the same day, right. I forgot...Jesus Christ, kid, how'd ya last as long as you did?"</p><p>"Sheer spite and determination, prick."</p><p>Schlatt shrugged. "Fair. What was the last thing?"</p><p>Tommy blinked, two of his fingers held out and the clear crystal in his other hand. "I got...I...Dream, uhm..." The ball that rose in Tommy's throat was shoved down in annoyance by the boy, and he choked out, "I don't think I can actually...say it."</p><p>"It's okay, Tommy," Gostbur crooned. "You don't have to --</p><p>"No, <em>shut up,</em> I need to do this. Schlatt," Tommy turned to Schlatt and stared him in the eyes, which was slightly uncomfortable but he continued nevertheless. Schlatt just looked awkward but tilted his head to the side. "You can guess, right? I got locked in the prison cell with Dream -- you know he's in prison, right?"</p><p>Schlatt snorted. "Of course I do. There's not a single person here that <em>doesn't.</em></p><p>"Great, so, I got locked in there with Dream because of a...security issue, I think. And I was stuck in there for like, a week with him --"</p><p>"Who was the smartass that kept you locked in a jail cell with the guy that killed you <em>twice</em> and did what he did to you in exile? And expected nothing to happen?"</p><p>Tommy hesitated before shaking his head. "It doesn't m -- wait, you know what happened in exile?"</p><p>Schlatt snorted yet again. "Jesus, kid, it was all Wilbur would ever talk about," he said exasperatedly. Ghostbur stiffened behind Tommy, but the boy didn't care. "We'd be playing cards and he'd have a window open and just be watching or something. Half of his speech was just saying how much he hated Dream and what he was going to do to him when he got back and stuff."</p><p>"Wait, where is he?" Tommy looked around the white void as if Wilbur would just magically show up. "He's still dead, right? Where...where is he?"</p><p>"He's in the living realm. He's a ghost, but I dunno where he is."</p><p>Tommy turned to Ghostbur sharply and said, "Ghostbur, I want to go there. Now."</p><p>"Y -- Tommy, you have to be here for at <em>least</em> twenty-four hours before you can go back and...y'know, fulfill your duties."</p><p>"I've been here for a day, it's been so many hours, I was alone back there for so long!" Tommy exclaimed, but Ghostbur simply shook his head.</p><p>"You've been here for an hour, Tommy. An hour in the real world, at least, I don't know how long it really was for you, but...yeah...you've still got quite a bit. But then you can...um, leave, and then you'll come back when you're finished with what you have to do! So it'll be great. You can go in a little bit."</p><p>Tommy scowled but turned back to Schlatt with slumped shoulders. "Fine. Anyways, so, I was trapped in the cell with Dream, and I was calling him out on his 'revive book' bullcrap, and then he got super mad at me for no reason and then...um...t-there's not like there were any <em>weapons</em> in there or anything, so he, uh, he..."</p><p>Schlatt blinked, once, twice, before his face melted into one of abject horror as he exclaimed, "Jesus fuckin' <em>Christ,</em> kid, did he <em>beat you</em> to death, are you kidding me?"</p><p>Tommy froze, cracking his knuckles with his thumb before nodding sharply. "Um -- yeah, that. He did that."</p><p>Schlatt ran a hand through his hair and waved his hand lazily, a blue bubble appearing next to him and dropping a bottle of some kind of alcohol into his hand. "I was not ready for this shit today, holy hell. That's brutal."</p><p>"Oh, shut up, don't act like you care," Tommy snapped. "You had Tubbo fucking <em>exploded</em> with a rocket launcher, it's not that different."</p><p>Schlatt's face hardened as he pointed to Tommy with the hand with the bottle in it. "Techno used that fuckin' death trap on his own, I thought he was going to use an arrow. And at least it was over quickly, being bludgeoned to death with fists and the walls of an obsidian box probably wasn't as fuckin' fast, now was it?"</p><p>Tommy's breathing hitched and his head tilted slightly to the side, his heart (or some replica of it that really has no function) beating faster at the description of what happened. "No, no, it wasn't...no. Sorry." He squeezed the crystal in his hands, tiring to direct the knot building up in his chest into the magic item. He can see the blue crawl up from the bottom and up towards the middle before stopping. The knot is still there, but it's better.</p><p>Schlatt visibly recoils away from the blue as soon as he spots it, directing his angered gaze towards Ghostbur. "You -- the kid's been here for an hour and you're already feeding him your fuckin' drugs? What the hell is wrong with you, Wilbur?"</p><p>"I am <em>not</em> Wilbur, and they are <em>not</em> drugs, Schlatt," Ghostbur snapped, angrier than Tommy had ever seen him. He wasn't even that angry, it was more of a light comeback, but the way that his face twisted was foreign to the phantom's usual look. "Stop calling me that, and stop calling them that. He was upset, and so I helped him, is all."</p><p>Schlatt rolled his eyes in disgust. "Yeah, by giving him Casper's Cocaine, sure, helped him. Kid," Schlatt raised an eyebrow at Tommy before taking a swig of whatever was in that bottle. "If I were you, I'd stay away from that stuff, but I doubt I have as much authority as big brother over here. He's watching you, I guess."</p><p>Ghostbur sighs. "Why are you being so difficult today, Schlatt? You're usually quite a joy."</p><p>Schlatt hums sarcastically and ignores him. "So, uh, what do you druggies want from me? I doubt Tommy just wanted to catch up --"</p><p>"Oh, right!" Ghostbur flew forward, in between Tommy and Schlatt. "Tommy wanted to know how to make the bubbles, Schlatt! He just got here, remember?"</p><p>"Oh, well, I'm honored that I'm your first choice for learning."</p><p>"Yeah, yeah, I picked you because you do it a lot!" Ghostbur waved his hand and made a bottle similar to the one Schlatt had. Schlatt's face tinted red as he rolled his eyes. "To make the whiskey and all of that stuff, y'know?"</p><p>"I get it, <em>Ghostbur,"</em> He says, flustered. "I'll show him how to do it, on two conditions. You --" He points at Ghostbur, whose eyebrows shoot up almost comically. "Have to leave. I'm already tired of you. And you --" He points at Tommy. "Put the blue away. I'm not gonna show you something while you're holding drugs in your hands."</p><p>"Okay then, they're not drugs, don't touch Tommy, physically, he's very upset by it, I'll see you two later!"</p><p>And then he blinked out of existence. Tommy turned to Schlatt, who just looked tired. He took a large swig from the bottle he was holding and sighed.</p><p>"Alright, kid, c'mere. I've got something to do later, and you don't want to be here as much as I don't. Let's hurry this up."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>written from 3/2/21 - 3/3/21 (edited on 3/4/21).</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. red</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ghostbur gives Tommy a gift.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Three hours passed, and Tommy was just about an expert at bubble summoning after a couple of days of practice. He'd only really manifested a few things at that point, given that the first thing he'd summoned was easily the most important. He bobbed his head to a familiar song that came out of a music player with a red case and earbuds attached. The device itself had tons of different songs that he knew, but for some reason, this version of Tommy really only wanted to listen to one.</p>
<p>His moment of relaxation was incredibly short-lived, though, as he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder. Startled, Tommy launched about a foot and a half into the air, whipping his head and body around to see Dream right in front of him, squeezing his shoulder until it almost breaks --</p>
<p>He couldn't hear himself over the Able Sisters, but what he said was clear to Ghostbur: a soft, broken, "Please don't touch me."</p>
<p>Ghostbur looked at him apologetically before smiling with intense energy and making a motion with his hands -- 'take out your earbuds.' Reluctantly, Tommy paused his music and yanked out his earbuds in one go with a sharp, "What do you want?"</p>
<p>"Tommy!" The boy winced, whether at the volume of Ghostbur's voice or something else, he didn't know. "Tommy, look, I figured something out, okay? So, I saw that you're sad a lot, and you cry a lot, and I was wondering, like, 'why would you something as weird as that when you have blue,' right?"</p>
<p>Tommy blinked, raising an eyebrow as he slowly lowered himself to eye level with Ghostbur. "...sure. What of it?"</p>
<p>"Sooo, I made you a gift to help you with all of that silly 'sad' stuff!" He makes hilariously heavy air quotes around 'sad.' "And it took me a really long time to make, so make sure that you like it!"</p>
<p>Ghostbur's childish tone could only make Tommy smile as he nodded slightly. "I'll try my best," he responded. "But no promises."</p>
<p>"That's good enough for me!" Ghostbur exclaimed, sounding genuine. He, oddly enough, took something out of his inventory instead of summoning it and held it in his hand. It was a white crystal, resembling unused blue in that regard, but crystallized in a different shape, which meant that it wasn't the same. Blue is always the same shape. "See, it doesn't fill up for me because I don't have any right now, but if I'm right, it should work for you!" He held it out to Tommy, who didn't even bother to make a move for it before Ghostbur realized, muttered apologetically, and bubbled it.</p>
<p>Tommy held out his hand as the bubble drifted over and popped just over his palm. A singular, red crystal dropped into his hand, and Tommy felt <em>light.</em></p>
<p>The ever-present, ever-<em>growing</em> knot that sits in his chest constantly was unraveled in completion, and he could feel it running through his body and into his fingertips and being deposited into the crystal in his hand<em>.</em> The ball that was almost always in his throat, ready for him to break down and start to weep at any given time was forced down with the rest of the feeling that was leaving him. His brain felt hollow and he lifted a couple of inches higher off of the ground.</p>
<p>When he looked, the crystal in his hand is bright red and growing darker each passing moment.</p>
<p>Ghostbur let out a whoop and a cheer, flying into the air as well. "YES! Yes, I knew it, I <em>knew</em> it!" He flew over to Tommy and looked like he was about to hold his shoulders before flinching away. He remembered that time. "You're not <em>sad</em> all the time, Tommy, you're <em>angry!"</em></p>
<p>"Angry...?" Tommy whispered, his voice crackling. He felt on the verge of tears with how lightheaded he was, but it wasn't out of emotion. Just shock. "Angry...at...what?"</p>
<p>Ghostbur shrugged flippantly. "Hell if I know, but look, Tommy, I haven't seen you fill up a crystal like that since the day you <em>got</em> here! Look at it, it's basically crimson!"</p>
<p>Looking down at the magical item in his hand, Tommy could indeed see that it was completely filled up and a dark, blood-like crimson that looked like it was going to start dripping if he kept holding it. With shaky hands, he bubbled the crystal, the <em>red,</em> and sent it off in a similarly-colored sphere. The wave of lightness that crashed over him made him stumble and fall over, and, unable to break his fall, Tommy hit the ground, the wind being knocked out of his lungs but not having any real effect, given that he didn't need it anyway. The collision hurt slightly, but it was nothing in light of how <em>great</em> Tommy felt. The knot was gone. He felt like things would be okay.</p>
<p>"Oh, Jesus Christ, Tommy are you okay?" Ghostbur said, looking like he wanted to help but not really knowing how to without touching him.</p>
<p>Tommy pushed himself off the ground, and the smile that grew on his face felt foreign to him. How long had it been since he had smiled like that? Since he had grinned?</p>
<p>He ran a hand through his hair before twirling his earbuds around his fingers. "Yeah, Ghostbur. I'm okay."</p>
<p>"I'm great, actually."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>written from 3/3/21 - 3/5/21.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. blaze powder</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ghostbur and Tommy have a bonding experience.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"So, where's...the rest of it?"</p><p>The question brought Ghostbur visible joy, making Tommy confused as he clasped his hands together and said, "I don't have any!"</p><p>Tommy furrowed together in a frown as he crossed his arms. "What do you mean, just make more of it with the bubbles, what?"</p><p>Ghostbur tilted his head back and forth with a hum. "Well, of course, <em>I</em> can make more of it," he waved his hand to make a bubble with several pieces of the red in it. Tommy reached out his hand to it before Ghostbur waved it away. "But I'm not always gonna be here to make it! Sooo...I'm gonna show <em>you</em> how to make it yourself! We can brew it together!"</p><p>Tommy rolled his eyes. He learned from Schlatt that you couldn't make anything you wanted with the bubbles -- only things that you've crafted before or have a lot of familiarity with. Given that Tommy had never touched the stuff prior to that moment, he definitely couldn't make it. "Do we really have to do this? Isn't there an easier way?"</p><p>"Nope!" Ghostbur answered, too sharp and too fast to be true. "C'mon, Tommy, it'll be fun!"</p><p>Tommy blinked, hard, and sighed, scratching the back of his neck. "Sure, fine. What do we --"</p><p>Ghostbur was already two steps ahead of him. In a flourish, he waved his hands to create four, yellow bubbles. One of them contained a brewing stand, and the other three had a variety of dyes and brewing ingredients that dropped to the ground in bowls. The ghost dropped <em>himself</em> to the ground, sitting cross-legged with a wide grin on his face, staring up at his younger brother, who simply stood with a raised brow. He sighed, deciding that it'd be easier not to argue and sitting right next to him.</p><p>Ghostbur looked giddy as he said, "Okay, so, of course, I made blue and red myself, so only I know how to actually <em>make</em> it, so I'm kind of giving you a very important secret here. Like a family secret!"</p><p>Tommy flattened his mouth into a thin line. "You aren't my actual brother."</p><p>"I know! But I've got <em>most</em> of his memories, it's basically the same thing. Anyways," he shoved the blaze powder into Tommy's hands to put into the brewing stand himself, taking careful notice so as to not make any physical contact. "You put that in, I'm gonna start with the other ingredients and the slime!"</p><p>Tommy wrinkled his nose. "It has slime in it? Weird."</p><p>"Well, yeah! Slime crystallizes when it gets hot, so it's basically the main ingredient. You've gotta brew the other parts into a potion, and then you mix that into the slime and -- oh!"</p><p>Ghostbur widened his eyes in remembrance as he manifested a bubble above them, letting it pop in the air and having the large furnace drop onto the floor. It somehow managed to make the ground shake, which was so absurd of a concept that it made Tommy giggle. This is the void, it shouldn't even <em>have</em> a floor, how would it make everything shake like that? When he caught Ghostbur's eye, though, he forced a frown and started on his job, pouring the blaze powder into his hand and using it as a funnel to expertly direct it into the tube on the brewing stand as he'd done so many times before. Not a single bit of it spilled, and Tommy smiled with his head down so Ghostbur couldn't see. He twisted the knob towards the base of the stand to activate the blaze powder, and it started to pop and crackle. Tommy's nostrils filled with the scent of wood burning in a fireplace mixed with cinnamon, and he felt a warm, almost homey feeling spread in his chest. He closed his eyes, let out a deep sigh, and said, "Okay, the brewing stand is set up."</p><p>Ghostbur looked back at him with a smile and beckoned him over, saying, "Great, c'mere, I've got all this stuff prepared, too!" Tommy scooted over to his area and widened his eyes. There were a lot more bowls that Tommy remembered there being at first, with little bottles of liquids, too. There was one, large, wooden bowl in the centre with quite a decent amount of slime inside. "Alright, let's walk through how we're gonna do this, alright?"</p><p>Tommy simply said, "Mhm," which was an uncharacteristically calm response that both startled and delighted Ghostbur. "Y'know, this looks a lot more complicated than normal potion-making, Ghostbur."</p><p>"Well, yeah! It's not a normal potion! I don't see any other potions being able to suck out emotions, do you?" Tommy shook his head, and Ghostbur grinned, emitting a slight glow as he literally beamed with pride. "Didn't think so! I have created the superior magical item! Anyways, here," he bubbled a flask of water, a bowl of sugar, two spider eyes, and a bowl of magma cream and sent them flying over to Tommy, popping them and making Tommy have to rebubble them in midair to stop the ingredients from spilling. "Mix these together in the medium-sized bow, I need to grind the lilies of the valley, and then I can show you what to do next!"</p><p>They worked in silence for a couple of minutes before Tommy muttered, "Did you know that lilies of the valley are super poisonous? They're very pretty but they could probably kill you if you ate them."</p><p>Ghostbur chuckled. "Yep. I found that out the hard way when I was figuring out how to make blue. We're weird ghosts, we can still get poisoned and feel pain or whatever, we just can't die," Ghostbur bobs his head to some unheard tune happily before gasping. "Wait, I'm supposed to continue the conversation! How'd you find out that they were poisonous? Didja read it in a book somewhere, or...?"</p><p>"Tubbo told me," Tommy answered, scaping the magma cream into the already mixed bowl. "Quack -- Quackity dared me to eat one one time and Tommy straight-up ripped it out of my hand. We were really young, so I probably would have died? Tubbo almost cried."</p><p>Ghostbur clicked his tongue. "Awhe, no..." he said sadly before spinning on his behind to face Tommy with the mortar in his hands. He took it upon himself to drag that paste into the main bowl with his fingers. "That doesn't sound fun...but at least you didn't get hurt! Tubbo sure knows a lot about flowers, huh?"</p><p>Tommy nodded as Ghostbur handed him some bright, yellow kind of mushroom that Tommy had never seen before, which he dumped into the bowl absentmindedly. "Yep. Pretty sure his favorite was pink tulips if I remember correctly."</p><p>"Ooh, that's cool! What's yours? Your favorite flower, I mean?"</p><p>"Poppies," Tommy replied almost instantly. "They've gotta be the red ones, but they also have to be the magic ones that put people to sleep. Those are my favorites, I used them to prank Tubbo all the time, but then when he'd fall asleep I'd...um...fall over right next to him and smell the poppies myself so we could just sleep in the grass together."</p><p>"Ooh, I remember that!" Ghostbur said excitedly. "And you'd always insist that it was the poppies that did it and it was accidental! You were so silly as a kid."</p><p>Tommy's face burned. He hadn't the slightest clue as to why he brought that up -- it sort of just fell out of his mouth with a smile. The warm feeling in his chest was melting his defense at the base, his walls coming tumbling down and making him softer than he'd ever been when he was <em>alive.</em> It was weird and unusual, and he'd really never felt like that before, but he wouldn't be someone to say that it wasn't nice to not always be on guard.</p><p>"Y'know, I actually put those into the mix for blue. They were blue poppies, of course, but they were the sleepy kind! Do you think...?" He waved a bubble with three of four red flowers by his head.</p><p>Tommy, without really thinking, reached up towards the bubble to grab them, making Ghostbur yelp and unbubble it to let Tommy catch them in midair. "Yes, oh my <em>God,</em> I haven't seen these in forever, man. Here," He shoved three of them into Ghostbur's arms, who looked delightedly confused as he said, "You grind them with the mortar and pestle, I'll keep mixing these."</p><p>But, of course, he did no such thing. He held the last poppy in his hand and stared into the top of it, the smell wafting into his nose and already beginning to make him lightheaded and empty in his brain. His eyelids fluttered and he shook his head, storing the flower in his inventory so he doesn't pass out in the bowls. Ghostbur shooed Tommy to the side and scraped the poppy paste (ha) into the bowl before clapping his hands together.</p><p>"Okay, so! Now we've gotta..." He reached his hand into the bowl and tears the almost play-doh kind of mix in half, handing one part to Tommy. "We've gotta make sure everything is mixed, so basically just knead this until it's one solid color!"</p><p>Tommy wrinkled his nose. "I don't want to get my hands all dirty and smelly 'n' shit, Ghostbur, you do it."</p><p>"Nope!" He pressed it into Tommy's hand. "You won't get dirty unless you want to, just mess with the thing, c'mon. We're trying to move quickly here!"</p><p>Tommy rolled his eyes and started to mess with it, and they continued with it in silence until it was one, solid, pale peachy color. Ghostbur grinned and scooted over to the brewing stand. "Okay, now we've gotta brew this. We're gonna need...let's say...four water bottles?" He brings over the potion bottles of water from the mess of bowls and ingredients and drops them in front of the pair, taking one and clicking it into place on the brewing stand. Tommy reached to put the other two in, but Ghostbur waved his hand away. "No, no no, we have to do it individually! You know how brewing stands are, you use one catalyst and it can brew three potions, but we have more than enough, and we're gonna put it all into one bowl at the end anyways, so that's just splitting up the pieces."</p><p>Tommy blinked. "I have no idea what you're talking about."</p><p>"That's fine!" Ghostbur ripped the pieces of red into four and shoved one of them into the small space for the item to brew. He hummed as it started to bubble, and Tommy somehow managed to find himself relaxing even more. They sat until the potion finished, which was just a pale red color, and Ghostbur switched out the bottle and added another piece before giggling. "This is just like old times, innit?"</p><p>Tommy cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?"</p><p>"You know, Tommy and W-Wilbur!" He splayed out his hands in excitement. "Sitting in the Carmavan, making drugs together in old L'Manburg, black walls protecting them on each side! I might not have all of Alivebur's memories, but I remember that part, at least!" He scrunched in on himself and became eye level with Tommy with a smile that reminded the boy of a gremlin and raised eyebrows. He looked like he was holding himself back from booping his nose. "Those were the <em>fun</em> memories, y'know."</p><p>Tommy scoffed. "I thought you said these weren't drugs, Ghostbur," he said playfully, taking enjoyment in how Ghostbur's grey skin darkened with a blush. "Kind of going back on what you said before now, aren't you?"</p><p>"Th -- shut up, Tommy!" The ghost said with a playfully embarrassed tone. "They aren't drugs! And neither are potions, that's just what Dr..." He dragged out the beginning of the word before shifting it to something else. "The other guys said that they were because they're lame."</p><p>Tommy felt a twinge of pain in his chest before brushing it off. "Yeah, yeah, I know."</p><p>They continued their banter until everything was finished brewing, and they carried the four bottles away and to the messy mixing area, which Ghostbur cleaned up with several bubbles and the wave of his hand, leaving nothing but the wooden bowl with slime in it and two wooden spoons. "Alright, Tommy, let's dump these in at the same time now that they're ready!"</p><p>Tommy tilted his head quizzically. "Why?"</p><p>Ghostbur shrugged. "It'll be cool," he replied, and Tommy couldn't argue with that. The two boys uncorked the potion bottles and held one in each hand before turning them over and dumping them into the bowl, some of the potion splashing onto their faces and making them giggle. Tommy wiped it off his cheek and felt significantly more wetness than there should have been, but his brain decided to ignore it. No.</p><p>Ghostbur handed him a spoon, which Tommy took, only to smack Ghostbur's shoulder with it, much to his chagrin. "You stir this one, I did the last one and it was just, so hard. I'm tired."</p><p>Ghostbur snorted. "You're dead, Tommy, you don't get tired."</p><p>"You'd be surprised," came the sharp reply, and Ghostbur took that as an indication that he was serious. He started to mix it, and Tommy lazily smacked Ghostbur's wooden spoon with his own, annoying the older ghost like he usually does. "How long do you have to stir this for?"</p><p>As if it heard him, the mixture started to glow softly, and Wilbur took the spoon out quickly, almost fearfully. "O-Okay! Now for the, um...the last ingredient, haha."</p><p>Ghostbur looked shaken as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath in, and Tommy watched in awe as his yellow sweater started to develop shapes in red. There was a line going across his entire torso, a sharp point right next to where his heart is, and a line going down through his chest. The diagonal line going across his torso ended up going off his sweater and towards his shoulder, and Tommy could see the actual slash poking out from the hem of his garment. It seemed to actually be bleeding.</p><p>The boy scrambled backward and Ghostbur started to wave his hands in front of him in a placating manner. "No no no, don't worry, I'm perfectly fine! This is how I'm default supposed to look, I just don't because it looks scary. But I am going to need, um..." He reaches his hand up and presses his nail against the wound coming up towards his shoulder with a quiet hiss of pain, letting it sit until a drop of blood gathered on top of his finger. "This! Death wound blood, or whatever it should be called. I need a name for it."</p><p><em>"That's</em> what goes into blue and red, seriously? That's revolting, Ghostbur," Tommy whisper-yelled at him, and the ghost shrunk backward.</p><p>"No, my tears go into the blue, this goes into red because, y'know. Blood, anger, grr, all that," he waved his hand flippantly. He looked unaffected by what Tommy said. "Though, now that I think about it...Punz didn't really kill me out of anger. He's a mercenary, you know, and he was friends with, um, the enemy, so he did it because he had to, not out of actual anger. Tommy," Tommy's head sharply snapped up, staring into Ghostbur's excited grey eyes. "Would you say that any of <em>your</em> deaths were driven by anger?"</p><p>"Well, <em>yeah, </em>I'd say Dream would have had to be pretty fuckin' angry to beat me to death," Tommy snapped, rolling his eyes. "But I'm not bleeding anywhere, so I wouldn't be able to even if I wanted to."</p><p>Ghostbur paused before looking at him sadly. He moved his hand up to right above his lip and under his nose and looked as if he was going to wipe something away before holding the position. Tommy frowned and slowly moved his own hand to that area, feeling wetness and pulling his hand away to see bright redness on it. His eyes widened as he wiped his hand on his shirt panickedly. "What the fuck, why wouldn't you say something about that, what the <em>fuck, </em>Ghostbur?"</p><p>"You never asked! I didn't need to!" Ghostbur retaliated. "You've got three of them, anyways, but it's usually just the nosebleed. There's one that comes down from your head under your hair and one that's on your neck. The final control room and the duel."</p><p>Tommy hesitated before looking back at his slightly bloodstained thumb. "So...what do you want me to do? It'll help make the red, right?"</p><p>"Right! You just need a drop of that, and it'll be ready to heat up!"</p><p>"One drop for that entire batch?" Tommy asked quizzically. "Really?"</p><p>He nodded enthusiastically. "Mhm! No matter the batch size, it's just one, every single time."</p><p>Tommy let out a shaky breath and lifted his thumb back to under his nose, letting it sit for a moment before steadily moving it away to see one drop of blood resting on his nail. He tipped his hand over the bowl and let it fall, and as soon as the drop hit the surface of the mixture, the glow intensified, almost blinding Tommy and making him flinch away. Ghostbur laughed in delight and continued to stir as soon as the light died down.</p><p>He finished and tilted the bowl towards Tommy, who saw that the color was now a deep red. He helped break it into small pieces, and they scooted over to put it into the furnace, Tommy being the one to manifest the coal and set it ablaze. They sat in relative silence until it was finished, and Tommy watched with his mouth slightly agape as Ghostbur pulled out <em>twelve</em> white crystals, all in the same shape. Red. Tommy grabbed three and they all filled up at the same time, and he put the rest of them in his inventory for later.</p><p>"There you go, now you know how to make them!" Ghostbur said proudly. "These are made differently than the first ones, I'm pretty sure they should be even stronger now that they've got the added Tommy touch, hehe." Ghostbur tilted his head to the side, his expression soft but somehow strained at the same time as he squeaked out, "I really want to ruffle your hair right now, please move away before I actually do it."</p><p>Tommy lifted an inch and a half off the ground and floated a solid three feet away without hesitation, staring at the crystals in his hands as he quietly muttered, "Please don't touch me."</p><p>Ghostbur sighed but still smiled. "Yep, got that...remember not to tell anyone about how to make these, alright? It's a secret. It's our secret."</p><p>Tommy's gaze remained fixated on the darkening crystals as he nodded slowly. "Don't worry, Ghostbur. I won't tell anyone."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>written from 3/11/21-3/12/21.</p><p>this was a lot of fun to write,  chill tommy is unsettling but so much easier to write than normal tommy...in this scenario, at least. i have a plan for where the next few chapters should be going -- expect a schlatt interaction next chapter, meeting an old friend in the next, and more talk about flowers in the one after that. :)</p><p>EDIT (around fifteen minutes after publishing): NO BECAUSE THIS TOOK ALL MORNING TO WRITE AND I WAS WONDERING WHY IT TOOK SO LONG AND THEN I LOOKED AT HOW MUCH THE WORD COUNT JUMPED</p><p>WHY IS THIS 3K WORDS THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A BOOK OF DRABBLES 😭</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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